U.S. forces Israel to probe crimes
against Palestinians
London |By Philip Jacobson
| 13-01-2003
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Israel's
military authorities have approached human rights
organisations operating in the West Bank and Gaza to help with
investigations into crimes committed by their troops against
Palestinian civilians.
The unprecedented move follows
pressure from the Bush administration for a full explanation
of the circumstances in which the Israeli army shot dead a
well-known Palestinian peace activist three months
ago.
Shaden Abu Hijleh, a 61-year-old grandmother, had
been working on her embroidery on the porch of her home in
Hebron when she was killed, Palestinian witnesses
said.
Her husband, a popular local physician, and one
of her sons were wounded by the same burst of automatic fire
from an Israeli vehicle barely 30 yards away.
The
army's initial investigation concluded that she had been hit
by a stray bullet during rioting, but her family claims to
have collected 15 spent rifle cartridges that were fired from
the vehicle.
With her children, two of whom are
American citizens, demanding a fresh inquiry, Washington let
it be known through diplomatic channels that President George
W. Bush expected prompt action.
According to the
B'Tselem organisation, which monitors human rights abuses in
Israel, the army has requested co-operation on several
occasions over the past few weeks.
The most recent
approach arose from an incident in Hebron last month when
armed Israeli soldiers burst into a barber's shop and forcibly
shaved the head of the owner, Bassem Masawde, with an electric
razor.
Following its usual procedure, B'Tselem sent
statements by witnesses to the Israeli authorities expecting,
in the words of one of its researchers, "the usual lack of any
response".
Instead, the group was astounded to receive
a letter from Israeli officer Captain Henrietta Levy,
suggesting that it should "talk to the relevant authorities to
help to locate the soldiers involved ... so this can be
investigated".
After another incident in which four
Palestinians complained of having money stolen by troops
manning a checkpoint, Israeli military police asked B'Tselem
to find the victims.
Officials privately acknowledge
that pressure from the U.S. in the Abu Hijleh case has
contributed to a more rigorous examination of how troops treat
Palestinians.
The army chief-of-staff, Gen Moshe
Yaalon, has already introduced a system that requires an
internal inquiry into all civilian killings to be completed
within 72 hours. According to B'Tselem, on average one
Palestinian civilian is now being killed every day.
The
Telegraph Group Limited London 2003 |
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